In 2022, 8% of all 4th grade black or African American students in Wisconsin scored proficient or advanced in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2023). As disparities in achievement are perpetuated across the state of Wisconsin as well as the nation, it is becoming increasingly important for elementary principals to…

Imagine, for a second, a school where teachers see themselves as leaders and work together to ensure that all children have access to engaging, high quality instruction every day. How might these teachers define teacher leadership and articulate its purpose? What suggestions would they offer about how teacher leadership can be grown and supported?…

Differentiation is an important practice in today's increasingly diverse classrooms. The researchers used collective case study methods to investigate the role of the principal in supporting differentiated literacy instruction in three purposively selected elementary schools with a documented history of literacy differentiation. For the fourth and…

With all of the reform models, research-based programs, leadership training, and professional development focused on reading and writing, we certainly know more about literacy today than we ever have before. So why are schools still suffering with low literacy levels? The answer lies in ineffective and unbalanced literacy instruction. Through the…

Though research has validated a link between principal leadership and student achievement, questions remain regarding the specific relationship between the principal and high-achieving learners. This association facilitates understanding about forming curricular decisions for high ability learners. The study was conducted to examine the perceived…

In recent decades, much attention has been focused on student achievement in the United States. Many policy initiatives have been attempted in an effort to bolster achievement, including increasing school revenue, decreasing class size, expanding early childhood programs, and introducing vouchers and charter schools, to name a few, but not all of…

Scholarship on parent-principal relationships often ignores how some parental involvement can create challenges for school leaders. We analyze parent-principal relationships at an urban public K-8 school over a 30-year period, exploring how three different principals "managed" parental involvement. Our analysis reveals how these…

This exploratory study examined the relationships between five predictor variables identified by the literature (age, years of special education teaching experience, level of emotional behavioral disorders (EBD) preparation, principal support, and principal feedback) and two higher order terms (age and years of special education teaching…

Schools are increasingly asked to expand their role in meeting the needs of all students. They are asked to provide a blend of synergistic ideas that are both traditional and progressive while dealing with huge differences in skill levels. The response of K-8 principals to this challenge can make all the difference in the world to children being…

This study examined mathematics achievement of fourth and fifth grade students in Mississippi and principals' perceptions of inclusion. A sample of 462 students from eight separate elementary schools was selected for this study. Fifteen principals completed the Principal and Inclusion Survey regarding inclusion education. Eight of the 15…

"The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success (2009)" was conducted by Harris Interactive and is twenty-sixth in a series sponsored by MetLife since 1984 to give voice to those closest to the classroom. This "MetLife Survey" examines the views of teachers, principals and students about respective roles and…

This article examines the effectiveness of observable and quantifiable traits in and approaches of school principals in enhancing student achievement. Data were gathered on 2,048 fourth-grade students in 96 public primary schools in Leon, Mexico; Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile. The UNESCO/ORELAC (United…

The "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (PL 107-110) established the Reading First (RF) Program (Title I, Part B, Subpart 1), a major Federal initiative designed to help ensure that all children can read at or above grade level by the end of third-grade. The legislation (Section 1205 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) requires…

The purpose of this study was to validate the instrument, Administrator Dispositions Index (ADI), that measures the dispositions of effective school leaders. The ADI could be used to assess administrator candidate dispositions and to integrate dispositions of effective school leaders into the curricula of administrator preparation programs.…

In an effort to understand teachers' and administrators' experiences with public school accountability, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), with the support of the Noyce Foundation, established the Educator Responses to Accountability Project (ERAP). During the 2002-2003 school year, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with…